


Swipe Right

by HariWrites



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Bad Puns, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Ninette Week, Online Dating, Pick-Up Lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-07
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-06-06 18:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15200597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HariWrites/pseuds/HariWrites
Summary: Marinette and Nino: It's a Match!Tinder AU for Ninette Appreciation Week





	Swipe Right

**Author's Note:**

> This was initially posted on Tumblr as seven daily posts. If you want to read it over there, [you can find the collection here.](https://hari-writes.tumblr.com/tagged/Ninette-Week)

Her profile photo was of her holding a cupcake, a smudge of flour or sugar on her cheek. She wore a white men’s button-up shirt, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, under a pink apron with the name of the bakery obscured by the angle of her arm. Her smile reached her bright blue eyes and wrinkled her nose adorably. Her black hair shone in the light. She was cute. He checked her details: Marinette, 24, Paris. She was perfect.

“Dude! What are you waiting for? Swipe right.” Adrien hovered over his shoulder, monitoring his choices.

Nino’s finger wavered over the picture. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know if I’m ready for this.”

“If you don’t swipe, I’m going to join Tinder just to match with her, marry her, then introduce her to you so you can see what you missed out on.” He threatened. “You know I would…”

He would, too. Adrien had a flair for the dramatic.

Sighing, he swiped right. He’d downloaded the app on Adrien’s insistence that he had to ‘get back out there, bro’ after his last relationship ended. Come to think of it, his last relationship ended a year ago so maybe Adrien was right.

A bright-sounding chime sounded to notify him of a match. Marinette had swiped right too. Oh, crap. Now he had to send her a message.

“Oh! How about, ‘I don’t know much about pie, but I bet you could make my banana cream’?” Adrien suggested.

“No.”

“Do you like donuts? Cos I’d love to eat your…”

“NO! Adrien, stop being gross. This girl seems sweet, I’m not going to perv on her. “ Nino insisted. “At least not at first.”

 

☆♬○♩●♪✧♩

It was the eyes that did it. Kind, wise and slightly mischievous bronze orbs that glittered through the screen and captivated her. 

He was wearing headphones around his neck and she was going to write him off as a bit of a douche until she noticed that he was a DJ. Being photographed with a cake was an occupational hazard of working in a bakery, she figured it was a similar deal with him. Besides, Alya had not long given her another lecture on being too picky on Tinder so she decided to take a chance.

Seconds after she swiped right, a match notification appeared. He must have already selected her. Now, did she message him first or should she wait for him to make contact? 

Her answer came in the form of a chime.

 **Nino:**  Hey, love the cupcake.

 **Marinette:**  Hey :) Thanks, it’s chocolate

 **Nino:**  Does it have raisins in?

 **Marinette:**  No… 

 **Nino:**  Then how about a date?

She laughed out loud at that. He was cute.

 **Marinette:**  Haha! Sure, you seem sweet :)

 **Nino:**  You like music?

 **Marinette:**  Sure

 **Nino:**  I’m DJing at Club Coccinelle tomorrow night, do you want to come along? I’ll put your name on the guest list.

 **Marinette:**  Sounds great :) I’ll see you then

 **Nino:**  Cool :D My set’s 10-12. Stick around afterwards and I’ll buy you a drink ;)

 **Marinette:**  I’ll hold you to that, Mr DJ xx

 

☆♬○♩●♪✧♩

Oh, crap. Why had he invited her to the club? This was a terrible place to get to know someone. Even Ed Sheeran knew ‘the club isn’t the best place to find a lover’ so what was he doing?!

“Would you calm down, bro?” Adrien chided. “You told her you were on at ten, she’s coming to see you so she’s probably waiting to show up then.”

“Yeah…” Nino chewed his bottom lip.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her last message and those kisses she added. Was it a slip? Or did she genuinely like him? He definitely liked his first impressions of her.

“I have to go set up. If she arrives, make sure nobody hits on her, okay?” He sighed.

He hit play on his first track at exactly 10pm, at the same moment Marinette walked into the club. She gave him a shy wave which he returned with similar bashfulness. She found the bar and perched on a stool with a good view of the DJ booth.

Her presence boosted his confidence as he set pitches, matched beats, and queued up samples on his launchpad. He was moving between actual decks and the virtual ones on his laptop, mixing and scratching, blending one track into the next with practised precision and the crowd were going wild.

Whenever he dared to look up, he saw her watching him and his heart swelled in his chest. He hadn’t even met her properly and he was already smitten. Around halfway through his set, she came over to his booth and passed a bottle of water over the perspex partition. He gave her a thumbs up in thanks and watched as she sashayed back to the bar.

He was so distracted he almost missed his next cue. So distracted that it took him a moment to notice that she’d stuck a note to the bottle.

_Hey, Mr DJ, great set :) Maybe we can make our own music later ;) xx_

Boy, was he in trouble.  

 

☆♬○♩●♪✧♩

The note had been Alya’s idea and she’d taken forty-five minutes to work up the courage to even write the words and another fifteen to feel brave enough to pass it to him. Actually giving him the note was only her first challenge, though. She then had to get back to the bar with him watching her without stacking it. Her clumsiness only got worse with nerves.

She made it back to her stool upright and intact. Given the height of the heels she was wearing, it was miraculous that she didn’t at least stumble a little.

After his set, he was true to his word and bought her a drink. He led her to a quieter part of the club and they chatted over scotch on the rocks and rum and coke. He was funny and smart and his knowledge of obscure musicians and one-hit-wonders was impressive. If only she wasn’t so tired…

“You yawned again. Am I boring you?” Nino asked, concerned.

“No, far from it! It’s just that I was up at four this morning to work in the bakery and once I hit the awake-for-twenty-two-hours mark, I get a bit drowsy.” She admitted.

“You should have said something! I can’t believe you stayed out so late for me.” He smiled “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

She looked at him suspiciously.

“No funny business, I promise. I just want to make sure you get there safely.” He held his hands up defensively and she knew he was being genuine.

“It’s really not far from here but, thanks, I appreciate it.”

Somewhere along the way, they ended up holding hands. She didn’t remember it happening and didn’t mind that it did. Something about Nino made her feel like she’d known him forever. When they crossed the road towards the bakery, she finally tripped on the kerb and he caught her.

“Falling for me already?!” He asked.

She giggled and played with her keys. She was exhausted but did want to leave him yet. He must have noticed too.

“We should go out again,” He suggested. “When you’re better rested.”

“I’m off work tomorrow?” She offered.

“Perfect. I’ll call you, I guess?” He said.

“Make sure you do.”

 

☆♬○♩●♪✧♩

“The zoo?!” Nino decided that Adrien had finally lost his mind.

“Yes, it’s perfect for a date. You have plenty of time to get to know each other but it’s not super high-pressure and, if you run out of things to say, you can talk about the animals.” He reasoned.

Maybe his feelings for this girl were clouding his judgement, but that actually made sense. Which was why, just hours later, he and Marinette walked together into Vincennes Zoo.

“What do you want to see first?” She asked.

He shrugged noncommittally. “You decide. I’m just here to get to rhi-know you better.”

“Kudu be any cuter?” She laughed.

“I’d be lion if I said yes, I think this is peak cuteness.”

“I doubt that, you get cuter every time I see you.” She smiled shyly and busied herself with the map to avoid eye contact.

He wanted to scoop her up and kiss her but was sure he’d scare her off if he did. Before the spell broke, though, he held his hand out to her and she took it. Nino led her through the park, past the seals, penguins, lions, rhinos and giraffes. Every time she wanted to stop and look more closely at an animal, they did. The rest of the time, they chatted about their lives, friends, work, and debated which animal was the best.  

Finally, they reached the European Vivarium and Nino led her inside. They stopped in front of one enclosure and he addressed Marinette quite seriously.

“Mari, before anything more happens between us, you should know, there’s another woman in my life.” He said solemnly.

“Um, okay…” Marinette was confused.

“Marinette, meet Gertrude. Gertrude, Marinette.” He indicated to a sign which read. ‘European Pond Turtle.’

Marinette sighed with relief. “The other woman in your life is a turtle?”

“I sponsor old Gertrude here, she’s my spirit animal. Actually, my friend Adrien sponsored her for me for my birthday, but when the year was up, I decided to renew it myself and keep it up. I was kind of fond of her by then.”

“You, Nino Lahiffe,” Marinette took a step towards him and grabbed the lapels of his jacket. “Are turtle-y adorable.”

 

☆♬○♩●♪✧♩

He was fun and easy to talk to. Marinette felt relaxed in his company, even though the butterflies in her stomach had been dancing a Charleston since he took her hand. When he told her about the turtle he sponsored, she felt her heart flood with such affection that she had to act. She closed the gap between them, taking his jacket collar in her hands. She moved her face towards his, gaze focused on his lips. She involuntarily licked her own lips as she neared him.   **  
**

She was just centimetres from him when she hesitated. They made the briefest eye contact before his hand cupped her cheek and he closed the distance, pressing his lips to hers.

The kiss was soft, yet insistent and the world around Marinette dissolved, leaving only her and Nino in it. He tasted like chocolate and cherries, the ice cream they had shared after lunch, his lips were warm and yielding. His fingers caressed her face like she was the most precious thing his hand had touched.

His laid-back whimsy got her to the club where his focus and talent compelled her to stick around. His consideration for her that night, walking her home when she was exhausted, showed her how kind-hearted he was. She knew how driven he was to succeed as a DJ, how loyal he was to his friends, that he rubbed at a spot behind his ear when he was nervous and gesticulated wildly when he was talking about something he was passionate about.

Most of all, she knew that she was falling in love with him.

They broke apart but neither pulled away. Marinette could see a wide grin spread over his face and she knew she had one to match. She nudged his nose with the tip of hers.

“I have a request,” She said.

“Hmmm?” He replied.

“Next time we kiss, can we do it somewhere else? I feel like Gertrude is judging me.” She laughed, pointing to the tank where the turtle was poking her nose out the water at them.

“Next time? You want to do that again?” He beamed as she nodded enthusiastically. “Avert your eyes, Gertie…”

He wrapped his arms around her and brought those perfect, soft lips to hers again.

 

☆♬○♩●♪✧♩

It had been weeks since he and Marinette first met, but he still felt an anticipatory thrill whenever he was on his way to see her. Today, they were going on a picnic with friends and were planning to introduce Adrien and Alya in the most nonchalant we’re-not-setting-you-up-but-we-really-are way possible. Maybe that was the reason for his nerves this morning. **  
**

Stepping into the bakery, he took a deep breath. Butter, vanilla, cream and spice mingled in his nose, it was the smell of Marinette’s hair, the smell of home. It was fast becoming his favourite smell.

“Hi, Nino,” Sabine’s smile was as warm as the sweet air in the bakery.

“Hi, Sabine, is Mari ready?” He asked.

Marinette’s mother rolled her eyes and shook her head. “She’s baking.”

Tom appeared at the back door. “I thought I heard your voice, Nino, go on back, she’ll be a little longer.”

Nino laughed, he was getting used to this. Marinette would get a flash of inspiration and have to start creating straight away so when Nino arrived to pick her up, she’d be up to her elbows in decorating a wedding cake, designing a dress or threading a new necklace. He looked at his wrist and the charm bracelet she made him. The little jade turtle bead represented their first kiss, the little headphones was for their first meeting and the cupcake reminded him of that first message he sent her. He was forever grateful that Adrien made him swipe right that day.

Marinette was a flurry of activity, piping bag in hand and tongue held adorably between her teeth. She was icing cookies or macarons.

“You know, we need to leave five minutes ago, right?” He said, kissing her temple.

“I know, I’m almost… done.” She punctuated her sentence with a final flourish of the piping bag. “What do you think?”

Nino looked at the table and his heart melted into a puddle. She had made dozens of little green macarons and decorated them to look like turtles.

“I think that you’re ridiculously cute,” He wrapped an arm around her waist. “Did you make these for us?”

She nodded. “Some of them are for the bakery, but we can take the rest on the picnic.”

She started packing the treats into a box when he noticed it wasn’t empty.

“Mari… What else is in the box?”

She opened the lid wider to show him the red and black macarons that sat alongside his green ones. “Ladybugs. They’re my favourite.”

“I don’t think the zoo will let me sponsor one for you,” He mused.

“You’re silly,” She smiled. “You know they’re meant to be good luck?”

“I can believe that. Meeting you was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.” He cupped her cheeks and kissed her tenderly. “I love you, Mari.”

She bit her bottom lip and giggled contentedly. She slipped her arms around his back and rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart thump in his chest. She fit in that space like they were both made for each other.

“I love you, too, Nino.” 


End file.
